Neutral lens. All positions documented.
Chili gets me out of bed.
The styles, the arguments, the cook-offs and the people of one contested dish. Documented with care, taking no sides, and every fact linked to where it came from.
Today’s menu
Everything on chili, one table.
The first thing on the menu at a little wine-country dive bar, printed in Word and laminated. That bowl started all of this. Read how.
- No. 1 · Bill of Fare
- 1Regional styles9 entries
Texas Red to the Cincinnati three-way
- 2The arguments7 entries
Beans, tomatoes, 1967, the schism
- 3Champions82 entries
Terlingua and world championship winners
- 4Peppers23 entries
Ancho, guajillo, chiltepín and the rest of the pot
- 5Recipes9 entries
One canonical recipe per style
- 6Technique10 entries
Dumps, grinds, pods and the judging table
- 7Glossary70 entries
From bowl of red to turn-in cup
- 8Not chili7 entries
A world tour of cousins
- 9The calendar16 entries
Where the pots are this season
- 10Your probabilityTry it
How close is a good bowl?
The map
Nine styles, drawn by state.
- Texas Red
Beef and dried chiles. No beans.
- Cincinnati Chili
Spiced meat sauce over spaghetti, ordered by number.
- New Mexico Chile
Red or green chile, stewed with pork.
- Springfield Chilli
Spelled with two Ls. Graded by heat.
- Coney Sauce
A meat sauce for the hot dog.
- Midwest Chili
Beans, tomatoes and ground beef. In the Plains, a cinnamon roll on the side.
- Chili Verde
Pork and roasted green chile, ladled over the plate.
- Spaghetti Red
Parlor chili over spaghetti, on Route 66.
- Chili Gravy
A chili roux for enchiladas.
The question
Do beans belong in chili?
Argument heat
This is the oldest fight in the bowl. Competition red chili bans beans under both major rulebooks, yet the International Chili Society now requires them in two of its own categories. Texans have eaten beans with chili for a very long time, and they still argue about whether the beans go in the pot or beside it.
Hover the contested words to hear from the lens you’ve picked: beansDisputed. See the record., tomatoesDisputed., pastaRegional practice., cinnamonCincinnati practice..
Read every side →Champions
Terlingua and world champions.
2025
Greg LindseyHouston, TX
Ground 80/20 beef is shaped into six balls, par-boiled in beef broth and held aside, then returned to a tomato-and-broth base for two spice dumps built on Mild Bill's blends, with a one-hour rest between them. He calls it a hot recipe, with cayenne, green jalapeño powder and white pepper carrying the heat.
2025
Don CullumSmall-cubed chuck shoulder in a low-sodium broth base, seasoned in three dumps led by Texas Red Dog and San Antonio Red powders, with a little habanero at the end.
2025
Todd FurseWaco, TX
Todd Furse of Waco, Texas, won the chili championship at the 58th Original Terlingua International Frank X. Tolbert-Wick Fowler Memorial Championship, out of 79 entries. The organizers note he also won the Texas Men's State that year.
2024
Kevin CaseyArlington, TX
Browned and drained 80/20 hamburger meat cooks in beef broth, chicken broth and tomato sauce with two spice dumps, each given about 20 minutes, and a 45-minute rest in between. The powders are Mild Bill's blends, led by San Antonio Original and Stockyards Special.
Where it started
Before the cook-offs, the plazas.
San Antonio’s chili stands fed the city at night for generations, until the city moved them out.
The Chili Queens →On the calendar
Where the pots are.
- November 3, 202659th CASI Terlingua International Chili ChampionshipTerlingua, TX
- November 4, 202659th Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cook-OffTerlingua, TX
- December 12, 2026CASI Florida State Chili ChampionshipHomosassa, FL
- January 9, 202743rd Tri State OpenAmarillo, TX
Oral histories
The archive is collecting testimony.
Recorded interviews with competition cooks, certified judges, parlor families and Terlingua regulars, for the permanent record.
Give testimony →